Three more Indians remanded to custody in Singapore riot case

Another three Indians, chargedwith rioting, were today remanded to custody for a week to assist in the investigations into Singapore's worst outbreak of violence in over 40 years.

Karuppaiah Chandrasekar, 31, Palanivel Dhasmohan, 27, and Arumugam Karthik, 24, had been charged in court last week for being part of an unlawful assembly on December 8 at Little India, a precinct of Indian-origin businesses, eateries and pubs where most South Asian workers take their Sunday break.

Chandrasekar and Dhasmohan, were alleged to have thrown hardened concrete at police officers.

Karthik was said to have been part of a group of at least five that had overturned and set a police car on fire, as well as thrown a dustbin, hardened concrete, bottles and a metal drain cover at the bus windscreen and windows.

The case against the three would be heard next Monday, along with 25 other Indian nationals who had appeared in court earlier in the week.

Yesterday, Moorthy Kabildev, 24, and Sathiyamoorthy Sivaraman, 36, were also remanded to custody for a week after being charged in court for the violence.

The violence was sparked after a fatal traffic accident involving Indian national Sakthivel Kumaravelu.

The 33-year-old Kumaravelu, a construction worker in Singapore, was killed in the accident involving a private bus.

Lawyer Amarick Gill told the court that all three men have met the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS) criteria, and that pro bono lawyers would be assigned to them, if they do not instead seek their own representation.

Gill also said the CLAS list of volunteer lawyers have been finalised, and that the assignment of lawyers - one to each of the 26 accused who have not engaged their own counsel, would take place over the weekend, in time for the next hearing on Monday afternoon, the Straits Times reported.

The cases of all 28 Indian nationals would be heard on Monday. Two men will take their own defence councils.

A total of 28 individuals, all Indians, have been charged for their involvement as "active participants", another 52 Indians and a Bangladeshi, will be repatriated for being participants in the violence and about 200 will be issued formal advisories.

Earlier, 33 had been charged for their alleged role in the rioting but seven were acquitted this week and two others were arraigned bringing the number of those charged in the violence to 28.

Police have also banned alcohol consumption in public at Little India every weekend, on public holidays and on eve of public holidays within the proclaimed area.